Huddersfield woman tells of 20 aftershocks after New Zealand earthquake
Sep 7 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Trudi Knayston
A HUDDERSFIELD woman caught up in New Zealand’s worst earthquake for decades has told how the area was rocked by more than 20 aftershocks.
Trudi Kynaston was thrown to the floor when the massive quake struck in the early hours of Saturday as she slept in her home in Christchurch, on New Zealand’s South Island.
And in the hours that followed, she experienced the many aftershocks that rocked the entire area, adding to the damage that the quake had wreaked.
Amazingly, no-one died in the quake, which measured 7.1 on the Richter scale. Only a handful of injuries were reported.
But buildings across the whole of Christchurch centre were damaged and roads were ripped apart by the force of the quake.
Ms Kynaston, who has a home in Christchurch but works in Sydney, Australia, was back in her office yesterday and relieved to be unscathed.
“It was a massive earthquake and locals told me it was the biggest in living memory.
“The last big one was apparently 40-odd years ago and that measured 6 on the Richter scale.
“I didn’t realise what it was at first when I woke to find the house shaking, but my partner had experienced an earthquake before and knew what it was. We sought shelter in the door archway, but the quake went on for at least a minute, which seemed a very long time.
“In the hours after the main quake there were at least 20 aftershocks and those, too, were very big.
“I went out into the city and there is an awful lot of damage. Many of the buildings in Christchurch are wooden and they have survived, but any that have been made of stone or concrete or glass have gone.
“It is a miracle that no-one was killed. It is lucky that it happened in the early hours of the morning, when most people were in bed.
“If it had been a few hours later and many people had been out in the streets, there would have been many deaths.
